Causes

The liver is a large, football-shaped organ found in the upper right portion of your abdomen. The size of the liver varies with age, sex and body size. Many conditions can cause it to enlarge, including:

Liver diseases

• Cirrhosis
• Hepatitis caused by a virus — including hepatitis A, B and C — or caused by infectious mononucleosis
• Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
• Alcoholic fatty liver disease
• A disorder that causes abnormal protein to accumulate in your liver (amyloidosis)
• A genetic disorder that causes copper to accumulate in your liver (Wilson's disease)
• A disorder that causes iron to accumulate in your liver (hemachromatosis)
• A disorder that causes fatty substances to accumulate in your liver (Gaucher's disease)
• Fluid-filled pockets in the liver (liver cysts)
• Noncancerous liver tumors, including hemangioma and adenoma
• Obstruction of the gallbladder or bile ducts
• Toxic hepatitis

Cancers

• Cancer that begins in another part of the body and spreads to the liver
• Leukemia
• Liver cancer
• Lymphoma

Heart and blood vessel problems

• Blockage of the veins that drain the liver (Budd-Chiari syndrome)
• Heart failure
• Inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart (pericarditis)